Baby Betta not liking what I give it

[jessp118]

So I have had this baby betta for 2 weeks now. I have not been able to get it to eat anything I've given it. It wants to eat but spits out everything. The tank is at 80*F and is 100% changed daily.
I have tried the following:
-Wardle pellets crushed
-Hikari first bites
-Freeze dried bloodworms (slightly crushed)
-freeze dried Brine shrimp
Any idea on what I should try next?
Note: I cannot get any live food or order anything online. Must be able to find it at petco.

[txbettaowner]

what size tank do you have the baby in?

[LebronTheBetta]

Is that the normal tank he lives in? What happened to his normal tank?
Throw away the Wardley's and stop feeding the FD foods. The Wardley's have the worst ingredients I've ever seen and FD foods usually have their nutrients sucked out of them during the drying process. This just leaves you to the Hikari First Bites. Buy some frozen bloodworms/brine shrimp to get some protein based foods. Did you try dipping its food in garlic juice? It will enhance the taste and smell so it entices it to eat..

[txbettaowner]

Try getting Omega one buffet pellets. They are very small.

[jessp118]

Originally Posted by LebronTheBetta

Is that the normal tank he lives in? What happened to his normal tank?
Throw away the Wardley's and stop feeding the FD foods. The Wardley's have the worst ingredients I've ever seen and FD foods usually have their nutrients sucked out of them during the drying process. This just leaves you to the Hikari First Bites. Buy some frozen bloodworms/brine shrimp to get some protein based foods. Did you try dipping its food in garlic juice? It will enhance the taste and smell so it entices it to eat..

He lives in a 1 gallon heated tank. I was cleaning it when I took this picture. I will try the garlic juice. I was thinking of picking up the Hikari micro pellets.

[LebronTheBetta]

Oh, okay. Do you mean Hikari Bio-Gold Betta Pellets? Or really just Micro? The Bio-Gold is now full of cheap fillers so you don't want that. Try to look for fish based ingredients in the 1st 3 foods listed that are used. Like whole antarctic shrimp meal, stuff like that. Not wheat flour, wheat gluten, or kelp meal.

[jessp118]

Originally Posted by LebronTheBetta

Oh, okay. Do you mean Hikari Bio-Gold Betta Pellets? Or really just Micro? The Bio-Gold is now full of cheap fillers so you don't want that. Try to look for fish based ingredients in the 1st 3 foods listed that are used. Like whole antarctic shrimp meal, stuff like that. Not wheat flour, wheat gluten, or kelp meal.

Ive decided on using the omega one betta buffet pellets. I will have to pick them up tomorrow. We will be getting a snow storm soon and I dont want to get stuck out shopping when it gets here. I will also get the garlic juice.

[LebronTheBetta]

Oh, okay. Just remember to get those frozen foods and New Life Spectrum Betta Formula if you have the chance. NLS is better due to the fact that it doesn't have wheat gluten and Omega does.. Just to let you know.

[jessp118]

I will also look for NLS. Thank you and I'll let you know if he is eating.

[Viva]

Hi Jess,

I had this problem as well when I picked up my baby betta last Saturday. It would not eat the crushed pellets I was giving and so I switched to frozen bloodworms to start off with. At first, I cut the worms up into tiny "bite-sized" pieces for the baby, but he/she would just stare at it until it slowly floated to the bottom of the tank. Then, I tried using an eyedropper/pipette to suck up one single bloodworm that was cut in half, so it still resembled a worm. I dropped it right in front of the baby's face and it ate it right up! Once it learned that the eyedropper means yummy bloodworms, I crushed up some pellets and squirted those into the tank via the pipette and he/she ate those too.
After a few days he/she doesn't need to eat from the pipette anymore because she recognizes the crushed pellets as food while its floating at the surface.
I use New Life Spectrum pellets and Hikari frozen bloodworms, and I've seen new growth and new colors in just a week of owning him/her.